Saratoga’s Grand
Summer #3 - 2009
by Dick Healy
A medley of Broadway and Hollywood music
came to Saratoga’s Performing Arts Center last Thursday where Oscar winning
composer, Marvin Hamlisch, no stranger to the Spa City, conducted the
Philadelphia Orchestra which included the overture to his Pulitzer Prize
musical, Chorus Line.
For those of us old enough to remember,
listening to the full majesty of Hamlisch’s arrangements featuring songs of
Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart, and Jerome Kern, it was reminiscence of the
haunting Hollywood scores of late composer, Max Sterner, 1939 Gone with the
Wind and such.
Composers of Hamlisch’s caliber, as
illustrated at SPAC, seem to lift an orchestra’s performance to its fullest
potential. The audience quietly hummed along when Hamlisch conducted one of
his most recognized compositions from “ The Way We Were” and swayed in their
seats with the lively rendition of his equally popular score from the movie
“The Sting.”
One of SPAC’s main features, is ample
parking, not far from the famous Hall of Springs building that was build
during the depression era year 1934. Dinner in the Hall prior to concert
time makes for splendid evening out. Strolling about the vast grounds makes
you realize how far forward thinking the designers were when they laid out
the redbrick and sandstone complex.
What is recognizable as Saratoga continues
to establish itself as one of America’s mostly sought after cities by a new
crop of upscale, urban seeking professionals, is that SPAC, in addition to
the famous Race Course, is a key venue in attracting Saratoga’s new
dwellers.
As for the Race Course, late August
attendance figures are up 8.4 percent, on track handle up 12.3 percent and
all sources handle up 4.8 percent from 2008 totals midway through the 2009
meet, following good weather and a highly respected field or top
thoroughbreds racing.
This is all leading into Saturday, August
29 when the Grade 1 Shadwell Travers stakes takes place. The season will
close out its last week with the Grade 1 Woodward and the Grade 1 Three
Chimneys Hopeful.
